Production of sound-records.



No. 763,904- PA'IENTED JUNE; 28; 1904.

J. W. JONES. PRODUCTION OFSOUND RECORDS.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 26. 1902. I

N0 MODEL.

No. 763,904. Patented June 28, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH IV. J ONES, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN GRAPH- OPHONE COMPANY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, A COR- PORATION OF l/VEST VIRGINIA.

PRODUCTION OF SOUND-RECORDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 763,904, dated. June 28, 1904.

Original application filed March 27, 1900, Serial No. 10,367. Divided and this application filed June 26, 1902. Serial No. 113,327. (Np model.)

To whom it y Con/667% either the vertically-undulated type or of the Be it known thatLJOSEPH IV. JONEs,of New laterally-undulated or zigzag type.

York, State of New York, haveinvented anew Briefly stated, it consists in making the 5 and useful Improvement in the Production of original record-groove of full size in or upon I Sound-Records, which improvement is fully a surface suitable for recording and which set forth in the following specification. surface at the same time is itself an electro- My invention relates to improvements in conductor, then electroplating such recordthe production of sound-records; and it consurface, and finally separating the electrosists in a new system or method of multiplyplate-matrix and employing it as a die for im- IO ing on a large scale indestructible copies or pressing into a tablet of suitable material.

duplicates of original sound-records. To obtain the recording material for my The present invention is a division of my improved-process, I take any substance that pending application for production of soundhas suflicient body or cohesion to withstand records, filed March 27, 1900, Serial No. the electroplating step and retain its form,

5 10,367, patented May 12, 1903, No. 7 27 ,960. while at the same time it must be capable of Sound records of the type characterized by receiving a record-that is, be readily removvertical irregularities corresponding to soundable by the recording-stylus with as little rewaves (commonly known as graphophone sistance as possible. It must, further, be es- 5 or phonograph records) are engraved in a sentially free from granular or gritty con- 2 wax-like material and may be employed diformations, and itmustpresent suflicientbody rectly for purposes of reproduction. Such or stiffness to the edge of the cutting-toolto sound-records are also usedfor obtaining prevent being merely displaced rather than copies or duplicates of the original by the engraving-tool. This material may be desig- 7 well-known mechanical process of duplicating clearly cut or scratched by the action of the 2 5 by means of a duplicating-machine. The nated for the purpose of this invention and making of each duplicate defaces the original application as wax-like, which term will sound-record more or less, so that the duplibe used herein to designate any material suitcates get poorer and poorer as the process is able for the purpose of engraving by a recontinued, while the original sound-record is cording-tool and with suflicient body to retain 3 soon worn out. Again, sound-records charits shape. This wax-like material is rendered acterized by lateral undulations (the type beelectroconductive, as by impregnation with ing commonly known as gramophone-recsome electr0c0nductoras an example, finelyords) before the date of my invention were powdered graphite. I thus obtain a material 0 produced by-tracing a line in a thin film desuitable for recording and which at the same 3 5 posit on a plate, which was then subjected to time is itself an electroconductor, The proan etching-bath. From the etched plate thus portion of conducting material employed may obtained an electroplate was produced in the be varied according to circumstances, dependwell-known manner and the electroplate iming upon the character of the ingredients and 8 5 pressed into suitable material to produce the the kind of conductor employed. The fore- 4 commercial gramophone sound-record of that going is only one way of preparing the dedate. This method of producing sound-recsired recording material. Instead of taking ords contained many defects not necessary to a non-conductive material and mixing it with point out here, and the copies produced were a conducting material I may take any sufii- 9 not correct representations of the path of the ciently soft substance that is already a con- 45 recording-stylus. The method has been 21- ductor, such as the softer metals or alloys well together discarded. known in the artsantimony, bismuth, lead,

My present invention applies to records of Babbitts metal, or the like. The recording material being thus procured is shaped into tablets or disks for use. Better effects are obtained by burnishing the surface of the disk before attempting to record thereon. It is then placed upon a suitable sound-recording machine, and the sound-record is made in or upon the surface of the tablet. The grooves are cut or engraved or gouged or scratched therein by means of the recording-tool once for all of full depth and size and require no subsequent deepening or enlargement by an etching fluid or otherwise. The record-groove may be either of the vertically undulated (graphophone) type or of the laterally-undulated (gramophone or zigzag) type. This original record is next placed in an ordinary electroplating-bath and a coating or plate of metal deposited thereon by electrolysis in the wellknown manner. The electroplate and the original are then separated, and the latter may be used repeatedly in the same manner to produce other matrices. The electroplate-matr-ix thus obtained is impressed into a tablet of suitable material to produce the commercial sound-record. It is employed with any convenient press and with any suitable fibrous material, so called, in the well-known manner.

In the drawings annexed hereto to illustrate this invention, Figure 1 shows a recordingtablet which is both susceptible of being engraved by a recording-tool and is at the same time electroconductive. Fig. 2 shows the same undergoing the process of recording. Fig. 2 is a modification showing another type of recording apparatus. Fig. 3 shows the original sound-record in an electroplatingbath, and Fig. 4c shows the same being used as a matrix.

In the drawings, A represents the tablet, which is both wax-like-i. a, susceptible of being engraved-and electroconductive.

B indicates part of the sound-recording apparatus, in which 6 is the recording-tool. B indicates another type of recording apparatus, and 7) its recording-tool.

G is an electroplating-bath, and D is the electroplate deposit upon the original record A.

E represents a press in which the electroplate-matrix D is being forced into the tablet F.

Various changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, which consists in avoiding the step of covering an original sound-record with a coating of graphite or the like in order to render the surface thereof electroconductive.

Having thus particularly described my invention and the various details for carrying the same into effect, 1 claim 1. The herein-described method of forming a matrix, which consists of forming an original sound-record groove of full size and depth in or upon an electroconductive wax-lil e recording material, and then subjecting the same directly toelectrolysis, and finally separating the electroplate-matrix from the original tablet.

2. The process of multiplying copies of a sound-record, which consists of forming the original record-groove of full size and depth in an electroconductive wax-like recordingsurface, then depositing a matrix directly thereon by electrolysis, and finally impressing the matrix into or upon a suitable material to produce the copies.

3. The process of producing sound-records in hard material, which consists of preparing a tablet of material simultaneously wax-like and electroconductive, then subjecting the same to the action of a suitable recording apparatus, then depositing an electroplate upon the same, and finally impressing said electroplate as a matrix directly into a tablet of suitable material to produce the ultimate soundrecord.

4. The herein-described method of producing sound-records in hard material, which consists of: first engraving or scratching the original record-groove into a suitable tablet of waxlike electroconductive material, second depositing an elcctrodeposit directly on the waxlike surface, third separating the same from the electroplate-matrix thus produced, and fourth impressing said matrix into a tablet of so-called fibrous material, all substantially as described. I

5. The process of making hard sound-records, which consists of: first, rendering homogeneously electroconductive a recording material which continues to be susceptible of being acted on by a sound-recording tool; second, producing in said electroconductive material by the action of such tool a record-groove of full size; third, producinga matrix directly upon said recording material by electrolysis; and, fourth, impressing said matrix into a tablet of suitable material that will become hard.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib ing witnesses.

JOSEPH W. JONES. 

